“He called. He wanted to know if he could come, say hello, because he was a fan,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired Tuesday night.
Trump said Rittenhouse, 18, left Mar-a-Lago “a short while ago,” and Hannity had said earlier that his interview with Trump took place on Monday. During the interview, Fox showed a photo of Rittenhouse posing with Trump.
“He came with his mother. Really a nice young man.… It was the prosecutor’s fault. He shouldn’t have been tried for that. He was going to be dead,” said the former president.
A panel of 12 jurors deliberated for more than 25 hours in the closely watched case, ultimately acquitting Rittenhouse on Friday of first degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges in a verdict that cannot be appealed .
The politicization of the case comes in an already tense political environment as the 2022 elections and even the 2024 presidential race approach.
Trump, who appears to be setting up another run for the White House, has praised Rittenhouse as the “spokesperson” for the right to self-defense.
“Look, I stand by what the jury found,” he said. “The jury system works and we must respect it.” In a statement later today, Biden acknowledged that the verdict “will leave many Americans angry and concerned, including me” but reiterated that “the jury has spoken.”
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